California Straight Ahead
About California Straight Ahead
On the night before he marries Betty Browne, racing driver Tom Hayden wrecks the bus he built for the honeymoon. He leaves the hospital in an ambulance that also holds a disturbed woman, and the scene outside Betty's house ends the wedding and a merger of the two families' car companies. Tom drives west. A storm turns circus animals loose on the auto camp where the Brownes are staying, and he leaves with Betty. Jailed for kidnapping, he is bailed to drive the Browne Special in a $50,000 bet, wins with the car on fire, and the families give way.
Cast & crew
More about California Straight Ahead
Harry A. Pollard directed and shared the script with Dwinelle Benthall, Byron Morgan, and Beatrice Van. Virgil Miller and Gilbert Warrenton photographed. Universal released the comedy on September 13, 1925. A film-magazine synopsis of the period supplies the plot above.
Themes
Making
The picture is a Universal vehicle for Denny, built around a custom bus, a cross-country camp, and a racing finish rather than a studio drawing room.
Look
Virgil Miller and Gilbert Warrenton shot the bus wreck, the auto camp, and the burning race car.
Preservation
Prints are held by the Cinémathèque royale de Belgique, the George Eastman Museum, and the UCLA Film & Television Archive.
Notes
- Reginald Denny plays Tom Hayden and Gertrude Olmstead plays Betty Browne.
- Tom Wilson is credited as Sambo, Tom's servant, who sells chicken dinners on the road west.
- Charles K. Gerrard plays Creighton Deane, who wants both Betty and a stake in the Browne company.
- Fred Esmelton and Frances Raymond play Tom's parents. Lucille Ward and John Steppling play Betty's.
- Arthur Lake is an uncredited camper, and Tiny Sandford an uncredited cop.
Scenes
- The honeymoon bus runs away and dumps Tom in a gully.
- A lion is in the tent when Betty's parents storm in.
- Tom cuts the trailer loose and drives on to Los Angeles with Betty.
- The Browne Special catches fire on the last lap and still finishes first.
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-california-straight-ahead)
- George Eastman Museum
- UCLA Film & Television Archive
- Cinémathèque royale de Belgique
